مجله تاریخ علم
سال شانزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 25، پاییز و زمستان 1397)

Autolycus’ On the Moving Sphere is among the earliest Greek mathematical works to reach us and was considered a staple of the middle books, to be studied between the Elements and the Almagest. This was among the many mathematical works translated to Arabic in the 3rd/9th century and it was the subject of several translations, redactions, and recensions. Analyzing the available copies of al-Kura al-mutaḥarrika, five different versions were identified. In this paper, we analyze these five versions, with a focus on the seventh proposition, in order to characterize their relations to each other and to the extant Greek text.

Spherics is a branch of ancient and medieval mathematics, which, due to its vast textual corpus, including redactions, commentaries, and scholia, has been constituted as a scientific tradition in the Islamic civilization. This tradition, although as a piece of mathematical knowledge, mainly involves cases in spherical trigonometry, and these cases were often used as a preliminary knowledge for solving astronomical problems. Theodosius Sphaerica and Menelaus Sphaerica are two prominent works in this field which are inherited to Islamic scholars from Greek science. In the Islamic civilization, these two works were translated to Arabic and they were subject to further investigations in the form of marginal notes. In this tradition, Tusi’s redaction of Theodosius Sphaerica has a pivotal role, and after that, the scholia of Mullā Muḥammad Bāqir Yazdi were prevalent among scholars. In this paper, while introducing the various manuscripts of the Yazdi’s scholia treatise, also we try to answer the question of why these marginal notes on a specific mathematical book should have been of such importance

Proponents of the abstract models of evolution believe that there is one model at work at all levels of selection in biology and other evolutionary phenomena in different non-biological areas. If any of the models fit the actual dynamics of the phenomena generally known to be evolutionary, or at least approximate them, then that single model can explain (and even predict) many diverse phenomena in those areas. However, such models have been subject to serious objections. The most important one is their empirical inadequacy. But, some of the critics go so far as to claim that the endeavor to develop an abstract model for evolutionary change is utterly in vain. In this paper, I try to make a case for the claim that although current models of evolution may be empirically inadequate, the whole project of finding an abstract model for evolutionary change is defendable. To show this, I focus on cultural evolution; a case which I consider to be the result of taking the abstract models seriously

Angles accept equality and non-equality and can be divided. So, we should catagorize them in quantities. On the other hand, due to Euclid’s definition of plane angle that Angle belongs to the category of relations. Then again, angle predicate flection of plane or solid. Therefore, it should be categorized as a quality. Also, the problem arising from the proposition III/16, complicated the essence of angles. In this article, we are going to study the opinions about the essence of angles and criticize them and introduce an essay of al-Khafrī on the angle with providing a critical edition and commentaries on it

The Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles (PIIs) was first proposed by Leibniz. In this principle, he argued when two objects can be considered Indiscernible, and when two objects can be considered discernible. This principle, that is known as one of the most widely used and discussed principles in mathematics, physics, philosophy, and metaphysics, is increasingly applied when the modern physics and metaphysics deal with quantum particles, giving rise to an under-determination that has been studied from different approaches by different philosophers. Relying on some examples such as Kant’s water Drop, and black’s Spheres, some tried to reject this principle. The present study was an attempt to investigate the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles based on Muller's defense (an article published in 2015). In his paper, Muller draws on some examples to define and formulate his arguments. In the present study, the Black’s Spheres is studied, and attempts are made to determine whether Muller's argument is defendable, and introduce the points that need to be taken into account about this example

The secondary qualities and their distinction with primary qualities were an important issue in early modern philosophy and science history, but discussions on them was not unprecedented.in ancient philosophy, some philosophers also denied their external existence. In Islamic philosophy, Ibn Sīnā in his natural philosophy addressed these qualities under the title of sensory qualities. Ibn Sīnā s judgment about their external existence is not the same. In this article, I describe his position about the existence of sensory qualities

Contrary to Skow’s point of view, I will argue that “one second per second” is not a plausible answer to the question of “how fast does time pass? ”. In the first part, I argue that the interpretation that Skow offered in order that one can show in which the second premise of “the rate of passage argument” is false, is not a different interpretation in such a way that he claimed. I will show that either two interpretations he mentioned are identical or even though they are different from each other, in each case “one second per second” is one second divided by one second. So all of the premises of the argument are true in each interpretation, and then the argument is sound. In the second part, I introduce a new argument against the “one second per second” reply. I argue that this reply has nothing to say about the real world in the sense that the rate of the passage of time would be one second per second even though time actually does not pass because this answer is a tautology. So believers in objective becoming, including Skow, should find another reply to the question concerning the rate of the passage of time